How to get into medical supply distribution
Set a structure to work with technology: You need to stay up to date with new arrivals and developments in the market.
Set up a service organization: create employee and customer management systems that are efficient.
In this article, we’ll cover what is medical distribution, how to become a medical distributor, what you need to know before getting into that market, and what are the most important things when selling to doctors.
Contents
What is medical distribution?
What is a medical device distributor?
A medical device distributor is an enterprise or individual dedicated to creating connections with medical equipment brands to later offer their products to the final recipient, whether that is an institution, medical facility, ONG, or health professional.
How to get into medical supply distribution?
- Set a structure to work with technology. Industries so closely related to technology, such as the medical one, need a solid organization that can stay up to date with new arrivals and developments in the market.
- Set up a service organization. For this, it is key that you define and know your offering, and create employee and customer management systems that are efficient. The health industry is all about making patients’ lives easier. That, as well, should be present in companies that sell medical equipment.
How to market medical equipment?
Although some marketing principles are common for all products and services, the medical industry is a pretty specific and professional one, and knowing how to approach it properly really matters.
To market medical equipment, it is vital that you:
Know the features of your products
“Feature marketing” is what is called to sell something based on the qualities it owns over its competition.
This is the most common way of marketing technological devices like these since they share a lot of characteristics that, in general, don’t make each brand or item special on itself.
Take the time to design your buyer persona
A clinic surgeon, hospital administrator or independent dentist won’t think the same, won’t behave the same, and won’t speak the same. A buyer persona is a very detailed profile of the person you would like to sell to.
Decide who your ideal customer is and study (whether it is by observation or polls) how they think, behave, and speak. The better you match with their principles, attitudes and language, the more likely they’ll buy from you.
Have a clear guide that both sales and marketing departments can follow
It doesn’t matter how amazing the marketing efforts are if there is no follow up in the sales stage of the process.
After creating awareness and showing your buyer persona the medical equipment they need, they’ll reach out to you to know more about your brand or equipment.
Once they communicate with the sales team, they must be trained to know: how much information does this person have already? How close is he or she to buy? How can I make the payment process smooth so that it won’t be inconvenient to acquire my products?
Most importantly, both the marketing and the sales team must chase one goal: to make the life of the customer easier by solving their problems and answering their questions.
How do you sell to doctors?
- Be honest
The most valuable asset nowadays is trust. If you want to sell medical equipment, you have to assume the responsibility of only selling original products, of good quality and that fill the customer’s expectations.
- Be professional
Keep in mind you’re not selling musical instruments for rock band members. This is a highly professional industry and you must act as such. Decide for a formal vocabulary, respectful treatment, and organized processes to show how invested you are to accomplish your mission by offering valuable medical equipment.
- Offer guarantee
When buying medical supplies, whether they’re expensive or not, having the peace of mind that your money is protected is vital. Make sure your customers have good guarantee periods in case their product has a factory default or performance malfunction.
- Offer technical support
Whether you’re a medical equipment brand marketing its products, or a distributor, offering technical support is a strong positive aspect. As clients, getting new medical products is a lot less stressful if we can count on special technicians via phone or email to solve doubts, help us configure our devices, or setting them up.
What should I know before getting into medical supply distribution?
The bottom line is that you should be able to build a workflow with the highest quality standards.
- Technology
If you or someone you partner up with is not familiarized with technology, you’re going to have a hard time distributing medical equipment. After all, you can’t sell to others a product you don’t know or don’t understand.
Nowadays, many companies are developing their own solutions for several medical areas, and being aware of how these technologies work is of great advantage in the distribution market.
- Organization
As in any company, it is important to stay organized. However, this is twice as important in a distribution company.
Keeping track of orders, suppliers, clients, and perhaps offering technical support can get complicated if there’s no proper planning and strategy.
- Management
Building a team means knowing how to bring out the best in each of the people who integrate it. In a diverse group of people, such as tech support employees, drivers, and directors, knowing how to address them will make a difference in how efficient your organization is.
Remember: although many specialists have created managing methods or offered advice, when it’s about people there’s no “one size fits all”. The best you can do is getting to know your team, what motivates them, and how you can help them achieve their professional and personal goals.
Conclusion
Selling, distributing, and marketing medical equipment follows the principles of good service and technology organizations: staying up to date with the market and offering high-quality solutions.
Building relationships with healthcare institutions and creating a reputation throughout the years takes time and patience, but it’s worth it.
If you know what your customers need and you can give it to them when they need it most, it is certain that eventually, you’ll see the results of honest and constant work.
